A unique and distinctive culture emerges from the Burning Man experience. Rooted in the values expressed by the Ten Principles, this culture is manifested around the globe through art, communal effort, and innumerable individual acts of self-expression. To many, it is a way of life.

Has anyone ever made wings? I am interested in making for myself at least one, if not several, sets of wings. There are many premade costume wings out there with Halloween looming, but nothing that looks like it would hold up in Black Rock City.

Additionally, I'd prefer to make my own and I want something much, MUCH larger than what I've found in stores.

Does anyone have any ideas, or know a good source for such a project?

I am posting this on the "Get Involved!" list because, first, I'm not sure where to put it, and second, I'd be happy to help others make some wings if I can only figure it out myself.

How handy are you? There's a number of ways to approach this challenge, and it's gonna be easier if you can at least sew, a little. Avoid feathers, and anything else that might MOOP out on you, for starters. Do you want avian, angelic, devilish? Big leathery bat wings can be made out of....leather. Light, airy bird or angel wings could be white visqueen or fabric. If you want 'em BIG, start with COMFORT. Cannibalize an old backpack with big, comfy straps- Or better yet, build your wings around a hydropak! A support structure can be made from fiberglass poles like the kind used for bicycle flags, or from thin bamboo, or old tentpoles. Even old umbrella parts can be retrofitted.
My favorite new creative tool is Google Image- Just search for pictures of wings, and pick and choose!
Have fun, but HURRY- Only 49 weeks for the glue to dry!

The major problem with wings is that they are typically big and don't fold up like they do on birds. So, when you get into a crowd, or go inside a structure, they get in the way and/or get damaged. Just FYI

And while I had thought of the wind (I'm planning fabric in strips rather than "sheets" of fabric) I had NOT thought of how hard it would be to maneuver wings while in a crowd or trying to enter/exit structures.

Folding wings? Well, my brain has something forming that looks a lot like one of those bamboo and paper accordian fans you can buy in China town. One for each wing, you see. And big.

Oh boy. I better get to work or I'm going to being wearing wings. And only wings. I won't have time for anything else.

Which sounds like a good idea until one finds out that I could sunburn in moonlight.

There are some new costume wings that are quite large...I had a pair this year and they were 4 ft tall with an almost 4 ft wingspan. To wear them I basically used my camelbak as the mounting point....it took a little bit of work to get the wings under the straps but once it was done I strapped on the camelbak and was gone. I had people commenting about it saying only a burner would think to do something like that.

The costume wings have a bad tendency to rip on the tips, I'm looking at ways to modify them for next year to reinforce the tips plus have them outlined in purple el-wire. It was going to take 26 ft of el-wire to go around the outer edge alone and I ran out of time to install it before leaving.

One good thing about the costume wings was the flexibility. I took my hands and pushed them back to get through the crowds at center camp or when I went through Flight to Mars for example. And that was some tight spacing. One other mod I want to make is to have some way to keep the wings out or at least a little more visible when riding into the wind. I'm thinking maybe some monofilament line and some kind of rigging on the camelbak straps might help with that. Anyway I hope you take this on and post your results here. And good luck to you.

Edit: One more thing...While I love many things about BRC, being able to wear wings out there and not be laughed at but receive compliments is one of the most special parts of the event for me. I only wore my wings on burn day this year...but I had to have over 100 compliments or more. If you were one of the ones that said something, you have no idea how good that felt. Thanks!

K-IV
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Thank you for over 7 years of eplaya memories. I have asked Emily Sparkle to delete my account and I am gone. Goodbye and Goodluck to all of you! I will miss you!

Damn Chai, now why did you have to go and post that?
That's a beautiful set of wings.
But the bad thing is my list of playa projects for 06 just got another addition. If you have any other pictures that offer more details could you post them? Thanks.

K-IV

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Thank you for over 7 years of eplaya memories. I have asked Emily Sparkle to delete my account and I am gone. Goodbye and Goodluck to all of you! I will miss you!

I found some photos in the BM archives. I've definitely decided that bat wings are out. Whoever you are with the batwings in 2003, the ones that appear to be about a 10 foot total span, holy crap. Stunning. And I could never hope to do something that outstanding.

Ivy, your peacock tail is cool. Do you have a photo of the back? I'd like to see how you attached them.

I simply can't work out (in my brain) a way to make my wings without having 12 pounds of gear in what would finally comprise a space approximately one foot square.

Ick. I don't mind giving up some comfort and mobility for wings ... but I'd like to cut that down as much as possible.

Thanks to Chai, as well, for the photos of the butterfly lady. Those are gorgeous wings.

I'm trying to determine how to make my wings so that they specifically DO NOT look like butterfly or angel wings. I really dig the butterfly wings, I'm just thinking of something more ethereal without, the, ahm, heavenly?

I need to work on this and get a better idea of my idea.

I'll update this post, though when I'm into the project and when I finish. Which means I might be posting from the playa as I'm already feeling pressed for time.

Ivy, your peacock tail is cool. Do you have a photo of the back? I'd like to see how you attached them.

I think there might be a phto of the back on my website, but you can't really see much construction detail.

Version 1.0 was created basically the same way as you might make a hand-fan--wooden ribs (i used think round edge moulding from Home Depot) bolted together at the bottom with a long hex bolt and nut, left loose enough so as to be able to expand/contract. The hex bolt also went though a grommet-reinforced hole on a wide elastic belt (got it at a thrift store for $1), which is how it sat on my hip. Small straps could attach it to the shoulders, but it wasn't terribly efficient. hence why it was only version 1.0. Current version (2.2) is still a work-in-progress.

Cool, detailed wings without ACTUAL feathers could be made using FunFoam feathers....(and it's fun to say!) An understructure of thin sheet wallfoam (NOT styro- breaks too easily!) could be layered with FunFoam feathers and reinforced with steel rods or dowels. Light! Sections of foam inside of fabric "pockets" would give it flexibility, too.

i've done the wing thing a few times and i'd say the most useful input i have for ya is..... bigger isn't always better. if you're really into wearing wings and want to wear them a lot, i will warn you that you might want to have at least one pair that's small and not so heavy.

1. dancing with huge wings is difficult!
2. pokey things in crouds can create a lot of obstacles!

the key is to make them so they are very secure - good support - don't tip around too much - and bonus if you can take them on and off easily.

Hi there, I made my campmates and I some wings using re-shaped wire coat hangers and pantihose type tights that I painted with glitter glue etc. It's pretty easy.. I stiffened the fabric with this substance hilariously named "stiffy".. but probably you could use cornstarch or whatever too. Then I just fastened on some elastic, and away we flew. However, I must add that the wings were a little cumbersome at times: dancing, walking through centre camp (apologies to anyone I slapped with a wing on the way by) and the portopotties. They were lots of fun though.. Good luck..

I've started on my project for this year and I'm already making plans for '07's project. It will include articulated raven-type wings.

There's a lot of people in the furry costuming community who've pulled it off, so I plan on attaching/apprenticing myself to anyone who shows up at BayCon, OryCon or Further Confusion with a pair of those. And if nobody does, I know enough people to get the word out and find someone.

Good morning diane o'thirst, I just re-hydrated, thanks for lookin out for us. You mentioned Luminex. The only source I found was the "sole distributor" in N.Y. Pricey to say the least. Have you found another outlet for that fabric? Very cool stuff indeed! Thanks.

Imagine of you will ............ round squares..... Not spherical cubes.............But round squares.